Sinopec Wuhan ethylene project becomes operational

MOSCOW (MRC) -- SINOPEC Wuhan Company’s ethylene project with a capacity of 800,000 tonnes per year produced first batch of qualified products, marking its successful commissioning and startup, according to the company's statement.

The project is a pivotal project of SINOPEC in the 11th five-year-plan period and the most important project in Hubei province.

The project, including 11 greenfield major production units with public utilities and supporting facilities, was built in three years with an total investment of 16.563 billion yuan.

Filling in the gap of large-scale ethylene projects in central China, the project plays an important role in boosting central China's economy, achieving balanced development among different regions, upgrading SINOPEC' industrial structure and enahncing the overall capacity of petrochemical industry.

The project will produce 2.3 million tonnes of over 20 kinds of products every year, help to drive the growth of downstream business worth hundreds of billions of yuan, and create over 100,000 new jobs.

As MRC reported earlier, the cracker was initially scheduled to start on June 28, 2013, but was delayed by Sinopec Wuhan till 15 July.

Wuhan Petrochemical Engineering Design Co., Ltd. offers engineering design, supervision, consultation, and related services for oil refinery, petrochemicals, distribution, and storage of oil and gas products. The company is based in China, its parent company is Sinopec.

Sinopec Corp. is one of the largest scale integrated energy and chemical companies with upstream, midstream and downstream operations. Its refining and ethylene capacity ranks No.2 and No.4 globally. The Company has 30,000 sales and distribution networks of oil products and chemical products, its service stations are now ranked third largest in the world.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Thailand's PTT Global Chemical seems likely to reduce its petrochemical processing rate to 85% due to a shortage of feedstock after a shutdown of its parent's gas separation plant unit 5 for three to five months, as per Plastemart.

PTT Global's petrochemical plants normally run at 95% of capacity. The Thai group is working on a plan to import naphtha and other feedstock to help offset the shortfall.

The gas plant shutdown is likely to affect PTT Global's profit by as much as 400 million baht (USD12.8 million) a month, as per company sources.

Thai refineries have been asked to boost production in order to offset a supply shortage caused by temporary shutdown of PTT’s Map Ta Phut unit at Rayong. The Ministry has requested cooperation of the refineries in reducing their LPG supply to the petrochemical sector, which will also be asked to use naptha as a raw material, instead of LPG. The meeting was held to seek ways to deal with the impact of the shutdown following a lightning strike on the facility.

As MRC wrote previously, in June 2013, Indonesian state-owned energy company Pertamina signed an agreement to purchase petrochemical products from Thailand’s PTT Global Chemical. The agreement serves as a pre-marketing strategy for Pertamina and PTT’s joint Indonesian petrochemical business. Under the agreement, PTT will deliver at least 5,000 tonnes of polyethylene and polypropylene products each month to Pertamina for sale in Indonesia.

PTT Global Chemical is a leading player in the petrochemical industry and owns several petrochemical facilities with a combined capacity of 8.45 million tonnes a year. PTTGC is 49% owned by state-controlled parent PTT Pcl, and uses ethane and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the gas plant as feedstock for its I4-2 olefins plant.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal DSM, the Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company, has reported a second quarter EBITDA of EUR345 million compared to EUR290 million in Q2 2012 and EUR311 million in Q1 2013, as per the company's press release.

The improvement compared to Q2 2012 was realized despite a negative caprolactam effect of EUR20 million and a challenging macro-economic environment, which mainly affected Materials Sciences.

Commenting on the results, Feike Sijbesma, CEO/Chairman of the DSM Managing Board, said: "We are pleased to report that the momentum in our Nutrition business that we saw at the end of Q1 continued into Q2. Nutrition, with its higher profits and healthy margins, is demonstrating the quality of its broad offering across the value chain. Materials Sciences’ profit remained at the same level as last year despite a negative caprolactam impact of EUR20 million and a challenging market environment."

"For the rest of this year, we will continue to fully focus on operational performance and on the integration of our acquisitions, ensuring the capture of synergies. In addition, the early successes of our profit improvement initiatives leave us confident that this group-wide program is well on track. We expect strong EBITDA growth in 2013, moving towards EUR1.4 billion."

As MRC wrote earlier, in July 2013, DSM signed distribution agreements for Engineering Plastics B.V. with Nevicolor and Nexeo Solutions to strengthen its presence in Italy. DSM entered into new agreements with two distributors for its Engineering Plastics portfolio in Italy to improve its coverage across the entire country. The move means that Italian customers (like DSM customers in other European countries) will now have a choice of distributors for their thermoplastics. The agreements with Nevicolor and Nexeo Solutions apply to the full range of DSM’s engineering plastics products.

DSM delivers innovative solutions that nourish, protect and improve performance in global markets such as food and dietary supplements, personal care, feed, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, automotive, paints, electrical and electronics, life protection, alternative energy and bio-based materials.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- French engineering giant Technip has formed an alliance with South African company Sasol covering the latter's future gas-to-liquids projects, said Upstreamonline.

The front-end engineering alliance also allows for Technip participation during the execution stage of future GTL projects

"Through the acquisition of Stone & Webster process technologies, Technip has become the exclusive co-developer of Sasol’s hydrocarbon synthesis reactor technology," Technip's senior vice president onshore, Nello Uccelletti, said.

"We are proud to be Sasol’s contractor of choice for its future GTL facility projects, thereby confirming both our leading position worldwide as one of the few contractors with experience in major GTL facilities and our long-term relationship with Sasol."

Technip's operating centre in Rome, Italy, which is its main operating centre for GTL, will manage the alliance, including the strengthening of therelationship between the Technip Stone & Webster process technology centre in Boston, Massachusetts, with Sasol Technology for the hydrocarbon synthesis technology section.

Technip bought Stone & Webster from US engineering company Shaw Group in a EUR225 million (USD301.9 million) deal last year.

As MRC wrote before, Sasol has sold its stake in the Iran-based joint venture Arya Sasol Polymers Company. Sasol reached the agreement with Main Street 1095, a South African subsidiary of an Iranian investor. Main Street 1095 will acquire 100% of Sasol's joint venture vehicle SPI International, which holds a 50% stake in Arya Sasol Polymers.

Sasol Limited is an integrated energy and chemical company that began in Sasolburg, South Africa in 1950. It develops and commercialises technologies and builds and operates world-scale facilities to produce a range of product streams including liquid fuels, chemicals.
MRC

MOSOCW (MRC) -- Borealis, a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers, has announced a net profit of EUR 83 million in the second quarter of 2013, an improvement over the first quarter but lower than previous year, as per the company's report.

Borealis recorded a net profit of EUR83 million for the second quarter of 2013 compared to EUR112 million in the same quarter in 2012. Net profit for the first half of 2013 reached EUR144 million compared to EUR 252 million during the same period of the year 2012.

The improvement in net profit in Q2 versus Q1 was driven by continued good results in Fertilizer and Base Chemicals and an improvement in Borouge profits following the completion of the Q1 turnaround. The lower net profit in the year-on-year comparison results largely from soft market conditions for polyolefins in Europe. Net debt increased in Q2 2013 due to the acquisitions of GPN SA and TOTAL’s majority interest in Rosier SA. Borealis’ financial position remains strong with gearing (net debt/equity) of 50% at the end of Q2.

The plants at Borouge’s integrated polyolefins site at Ruwais, UAE performed better during the second quarter after the start-up from the turnaround. Borouge’s ethane crackers achieved record production levels. Construction activities for the Borouge 3 expansion project are on track for the planned start-up in 2014.

The new Borealis Sirius Catalyst plant was inaugurated in June in Linz, Austria. This plant produces specialized polyolefin catalyst utilising the proprietary Borealis Sirius catalyst technology, which will enable further tailoring of finished polymers. In June, Borealis also announced a EUR 65 million investment to upgrade its production site in Porvoo, Finland. The Borstar PE2 plant will be upgraded to the new Borstar third generation (3G) technology, thereby extending the Borstar PE platform.

In July, Borealis announced it will close its HDPE plant in Burghausen, Germany, at the end of 2014. The HDPE plant in Burghausen is based on non-proprietory technology and no longer provides a sufficient innovation platform or attractive economic return. The closure will ensure Borealis maintains its competitive position in the currently weak European market. Many of the products and customers currently served will be transitioned to Borstar plants within the company.

"We do not expect the European polyolefin markets to improve any time soon", states Mark Garrett, Borealis Chief Executive. "We need to continue to strengthen our European position by taking the necessary decisions, like the closure of our HDPE plant in Burghausen at the end of 2014. We will continue our work to optimise our European Polyolefin business and assets in order to improve our profitability and grow in volatile markets. At the same time, we will continue to expand our fertilizer business creating a more diversified business portfolio and support the further growth and development of Borouge."

As MRC informed previously, in July 2013, Borealis and Borouge, the world's leading providers of innovative, value-creating solutions for the wire and cable industry, announced the dedicated roll-out of the technology platform Borlink in Russia.

Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers. Borealis is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and operates in over 120 countries with around 5,300 employees worldwide, generating EUR7.5 billion in sales revenue in 2012.
MRC